The Gospel Of Luke
Chapter 15 & 16
Chapters
Early manuscripts of the Bible did not contain the chapter and verse divisions in the numbered form that we are used to today.
In Israel the Torah (first five books) were divided into 154 sections so that they could be read through aloud in weekly worship over the course of three years.
In Babylonia it was divided into 53 or 54 sections so it could be read through in one year.
The earliest chapter divisions with titles per chapter are found in the 9th century in the “Tours manuscript” from Paris and was commonly called “The Bible of Rorigo” But this idea never really took off. It wasn’t for another 400 years later that Archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed a different division of the Bible in the early 13th century. And it was based on their system of chapter divisions that Archbishop Langton in the 14th century, used this to give us our modern chapter divisions that we still use today.
Verses
Since at least 916 the Tanakh which is the Jewish Old Testament which is slightly different to our Old Testament as its in a different order and doesn’t contain such Roman Catholic books as Ecclesiasticus, Books of the Maccabees, the Books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, and expansions on the books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Esther. The modern Protestant Old Testament is much more like the Tanakh, that Jesus would have been familiar with.
Most scholars agree that the Old Testament would have been divided into verses around 1440 by Rabbi Isaac Nathan ben Kalonymus with his first Hebrew Bible concordance.
The first person to divide New Testament chapters into verses was Italian Dominican biblical scholar Santi Pagnini in about 1490 but his system was never widely adopted.
Robert Estienne created an alternate numbering in the 1551 edition of his printing of the Bible, this was then widely, and it is this system which is found in almost all modern Bibles of today with the slight change that in 1555 reprint they started to use the verse numbers next to the text as before it had only been printed in the margins.
The first Bible in English to use both chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible published shortly afterwards in 1560. These verse divisions soon gained acceptance as a standard way to show chapters and verses, and have since been used in nearly all English Bibles and the vast majority of those in other languages.
NOTE – Now as boring as that was it was to help explain why I wanted to do both Chapter 15 & 16 together as they are tied together in many ways and with our modern way of dividing the Bible up can lead to not fully understanding what some of these important passages are actually meaning.
CHAPTER 15
Parable Of The Lost Sheep
(V1-7)
“No creature strays more easily than a sheep; none is more heedless; and none so incapable of finding its way back to the flock, when once gone astray: it will bleat for the flock, and still run on in the opposite direction to the place where the flock is: this I have often noticed.” –Unnamed Sheppard
The lost sheep would never save himself or go and find the shepherd by himself. If the shepherd did not act, the sheep was doomed.
Many rabbis of that time believed that God received the sinner who came to Him the right way.
But in the parable of the shepherd and the sheep, Jesus taught that God actively seeks out the lost. He does not grudgingly receive the lost; instead, He searches after them. God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God.
Parable Of The Lost Coin
(V8-10)
NOTE – Possibly, this coin was held with several others on a silver chain worn round the head as a mark of a married woman. It was a precious ornament to the woman and made the loss all the more severely felt.
In a sense, the lost belong to God whether they know it or not. The piece of silver was lost but still owned. Observe that the woman called the money, “I have found my lost coin.” So the old nursery rhyme “Finders keeps losers weepers” is not true with God.
The woman in the story first brought light; then swept and cleaned the house, all along searching for the coin carefully and with deliberate intent. She kept looking until she found the coin.
This is how the church, led by the Holy Spirit, should search for lost souls.
- First they will put forth the light of God’s word
- Then sweep and clean their own place
- Then search carefully for the lost
Parable Of The Lost Son
(V9-31)
The majority of this third parable speaks of the younger of the two sons, but the older brother is clearly and importantly addressed at the end of the parable.
NOTE – In those days a father could either grant the inheritance before or after his death, but it was usually done after. The younger son asked for a special exception, motivated by foolishness and greed.
The father clearly illustrates God’s love. His love allowed rebellion, and, in some sense, respected human will. The father knew that the son made a foolish and greedy request, yet allowed him to go his course nonetheless.
The son left the area to become independent of the father and lived a prodigal (reckless, foolish, extravagant) life. No doubt it was fun while it lasted.
The son was completely to blame for the wasteful, foolish living and spending. He was not to blame for the severe famine, but was afflicted by it nevertheless.
Driven by hunger and need, the son accepted work that was unacceptable and offensive to any righteous Jewish person because swine were unclean under the law Leviticus 11:7.
Jesus didn’t say that the man thought of his village or his home, but of his father. When the son returned to the father, he also came back to the village and to the house; but his focus was on returning to his father.
NOTE – That is how we need to come back to God – to come back to Him first and foremost, before coming back to church or coming back to Christian friends.
In his prepared speech to his father, the son showed his complete sense of unworthiness and an honest confession of sin. He would not even ask to be treated as a son, but as a hired servant.
NOTE – The ordinary slave was in some sense a member of the family, but the hired servant could be dismissed at a day’s notice. He was not one of the family at all.
The intensity of the father’s reception was indicated by the fact that he ran and that he repeatedly kissed him, indicated by the original grammar
NOTE – Even today in Middle East culture the father is seen as the absolute head of the house and would never act un dignified so to run and perhaps show his ankles or legs is seen as shameful act never mind showing extreme affection to a child.
None of the four things brought to the repentant son were necessities; they were all meant to honour the son and make him know he was loved. Rings ,Robe , Sandals and a Feast . It was a happy thing to find the lost sheep and the lost coin. It was much more happy to find the lost son. They had a wonderful party with special clothing, jewelry, and food. It wasn’t just finding a lost son; it was as if he were back from the dead.
The Bitterness And Resentment Of The Older Son
The older son never lived a party life, and was hard at work in the field even as the younger son came home. Drawn by the sound of the party the music and dancing, he learned from a servant that his younger brother had come home.
The older son was not happy that the brother was so joyfully received. He complained and felt it was an insult to his own obedience and faithfulness.
These exaggerations are common for those who hold on to bitterness. The older son finally showed this bitterness to the father, but only after it had done its damage in his heart over many years.
The older brother was unappreciative of all he did have. Every day he had his father’s company, and the blessings of loving home. His father’s love was round about him constantly, and everything the father had was his.
There was a sense in which the older son was obedient, but yet far from his father’s heart.
In this sense he is the perfect illustration of the religious leaders who were angry that Jesus associated tax collectors and sinners.
Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him… Son, you are always with me: The father also loved the older son, and earnestly appealed to him, much the same as how Jesus still loved the Pharisees no matter how much they rejected Him.
NOTE – The father did not actually call him son, in the original Greek He called him child and Greek the word child is a word to show the tenderest of affection.
CHAPTER 16
The Story Of The Dishonest Steward
(V1-15)
In the Parable of the Unjust Steward ,the text can be broken down into two parts: the parable verses 1–8 and the application verses 9–13.
Some consider this to be one of Jesus’ most difficult parables, because it seems that Jesus used an obviously dishonest man as an example for His disciples.
In verse 1 it clearly identifies that Jesus is speaking to His disciples, but there is a suggestion that His audience is mixed, with both disciples and Pharisees. As in verse 14 it says that the Pharisees “heard all this and were sneering at Jesus” Next in the KJ translation in verse 1 it says “He also said to His disciples” and it’s the also that makes me think that Jesus was actually still addressing the Pharisees at the same feast from chapter 14 but wanted His disciples to listen in to this particular teaching as well.
Verse 14 is Luke’s commentary on the motivation of the Pharisees, and in verse 15 we see Jesus condemn their motives. And what was the Pharisees’ motivation?
They were “lovers of money” and who liked to “appear righteous in public”
With that as a backdrop, let’s look at the parable. It’s a fairly simple, if an unusual, parable from Jesus. The story is simple, but the setting is unusual. In most of Jesus’ parables, the main character are normally representative of God, Christ, or some other good character.
In this parable the characters are all wicked—the manager and the man whose possessions he manages are both evil characters. This should alert us to the fact that Jesus is not teaching us to copy the behaviour of the characters but is trying to show us a larger idea.
The parable begins with a rich man calling his steward before him to inform him that he will be sack him for mismanaging his master’s money. A steward was a manager, especially a manager of money or property.
The steward had authority over all of the master’s finances and could do business in his name. This requires the highest level of trust in the steward.
Now, it may not be apparent at this point in the parable, but the master is probably not aware of steward’s dishonesty. The steward is being sacked for apparent mismanagement, not fraud. This explains why he is able to conduct a few more transactions before he is released and why he is not immediately sacked or even executed.
The steward, realizing that he will soon be without a job, makes some shrewd deals behind his master’s back by reducing the debt owed by several of the master’s debtors in exchange for shelter when he is eventually put out. When the master becomes aware of what the wicked servant had done, he commends him for his “shrewdness.”
In His application of the story in the remaining verses, Jesus begins by saying, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light”.
Jesus is showing the difference between the “children of this world” or unbelievers and the “children of the light” or believers.
The steward, once he knew he was about to be put out, made deals to put others in debt to himself. He did so by cheating his master and made friends of his master’s debtors who would then be obligated to take care of him once he lost his job.
THE POINT – Unbelievers are wiser in the things of this world, than believers are about the things of the world to come !
What does this have to do with believers being wise about the life to come?
Let’s look at verse 9: – “Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”
Jesus is encouraging His followers to be generous with their wealth in this life so that in the life to come their new friends will receive them “ into eternal home.” This is similar to Jesus’ teaching on wealth in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus teaches His followers to build their treasures in heaven Matthew 6:19–21.
The term worldly wealth seems to strike readers the wrong way. But Jesus is not saying that believers should gain wealth in a sinful way and then be generous with it. “worldly wealth” in reference to wealth can refer to
- The way in how they got the wealth
- The way in which one wants to use the wealth
- The influence wealth can have that often leads people to do sinful acts
Given the way in which Jesus employs the term, the third explanation seems the most likely. Wealth is not inherently evil, but the love of money can lead to all sorts of sin 1 Timothy 6:10.
So, the principle that Jesus is trying to show here is one of a good manager rather than an sinful one. The sinful manager saw his master’s finances as a means for his own personal advancement.
But Jesus wants His followers to be, righteous managers.
If we understand the principle that everything we own is a gift from God, then we realize that God is the owner of everything and that we are His managers.
So knowing that ,we are to use the Master’s resources to further the Master’s goals. In this specific case, we are to be generous with our wealth and use it for the benefit of others.
Jesus then goes on to expand in verses 10–13 the principle given in verse 9. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. Similarly, if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
If we can’t be faithful with earthly wealth, which isn’t even ours to begin with, then how can we be entrusted with “true riches”?
RICH MAN AND LAZARUS – Chapter 16 LUKE
INTRODUCTION
When reading any of the parables we have to remember that they are earthly stories with a Heavenly message hidden within them so we have to really investigate into it to find these truths.
We find this parable in the Gospel of Luke.
Now this is important as Luke has the privilege of being the only gentile ( Non- Jew) to write in the Holy Scriptures, every other book of the Bible has been written by Jews.
So that gives Luke a unique perspective of God love.
Luke had a special interested in the outcasts from the Jewish society such as, women, the poor, Samaritans and of course the Gentiles (Non- Jews).
Because of this we find in Luke’s gospel many unique stories that we don’t see in the other gospels, The good Samaritan , The persistent widow, Pharisee and the tax collector, The prodigal Son and of course The Rich man and Lazarus. All of these stories are to show Gods love for the outcasts of Jewish society
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Now we get the parable itself. This parable is often called a problem parable as its unique in the fact that it’s the only parable Jesus ever told where one of the main characters is named in it with Lazarus as all the other start with…… “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho”
“A farmer went out to sow his seed”
“There was a man who had two sons”
The fact that one of the main characters has a name has led many to believe that this was actually a true story, this combined with the fact that there was a later in the Bible a man called Lazarus who himself was raised from the dead has only went to strengthen this idea that in fact Jesus was talking prophetically about what was going to happen in the future. And in this parable it gives us a glimpse into Heaven and of course the suffering of Hell.
But if you like many, believe this is a true story, then this opens so many other questions and problems, that to me at least proves that it is a parable. But perhaps the most misunderstood, or at least taken out of context parable in the Bible.
So let’s read it over and we can have a look.
RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. 20 At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and he went to Hades. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus on his bosom.
24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great gulf separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’
27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
PROBLEMS WITH IT BEING A LITERAL STORY
(1) The rich man is never accused of any sin, he is simply shown as being a wealth man. So by this being true, being rich will get you sent to hell ? if you take this a literal truth.
(2) Okay so what about Lazarus, it also never said he was a righteous man, Just poor. So being poor gets you sent to Abrahams bosom when you die?
(3) Abrahams bosom. This is the only time this is ever used in the Bible so is this Heaven if so why didn’t it say the angels carried Lazarus to Gods bosom ? Why Abraham ?
(4) Those in Heaven will be able to see those in torment in Hell ? I don’t think Nicola could stand being in heaven, if she could see me suffering in Hell.
(5) Could a drip of water from a finger tip actually ease the suffering of hell ?
(6) And if this is a true story then people in Heaven and in Hell can shout over to have a conversation with each other?
So we can now rule out any idea of this being a true literal story and start to look at it as a parable. Now this might be your first time hearing this parable or you may have heard it preached many times.
And normally they take the view that this is all about the love of money. Even Paul said in his letter to Timothy “that love of money is the root of all evil” , and that’s true and there is nothing wrong if that’s what you take away from this parable. A love for money or a love for anything more than God is a sin.
But if we really want to know what this parable is all about then we need to look at it in its full context the way that Jesus told this parable.
Now I’m sure you have heard preachers Michael included saying don’t take the text out of its context. So what does that mean. Well here is an example.
The text is ” I hate my wife’s cooking “
But when we look at the it again in its full context ” I hate my wife’s cooking class as its on a Wednesday night so she can’t come to church with me “
So when we read this parable again in its full context we realise that this is not a standalone parable, but was actually the final conclusion of five parables that Jesus taught all as one teaching.
Starting with the – Parable of the Lost Sheep, Parable of the Lost Coin , Parable of the Prodigal Son , Parable of the Shrewd Manager and then finally the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
So we can see that Jesus had a major point to get across as He used 5 parables to try to teach His point to his audience.
It all started back in chapter 14 WhenJesushad been invited to a leading Pharisees home for a banquet but in chapter 15 verses 1-2
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
we can see that sinners, tax collectors and even Gentiles had started to gather around to listen to His teachings. Now the Pharisees and teachers of the law started to complain as Jesus was welcoming these outcasts and even eating with them, they were upset with Jesus for showing any kind of love for these people.
You see the Jewish nation were Gods chosen people and didn’t have any contact with gentiles. So they had major issues with Jesus showing and sort of love to these people. To the Jews the gentiles were the scum of the earth and had no rights to even know God, the Jews were Gods chosen people and here we have Jesus showing love to these despised gentiles, He is feeding them, healing them and even teaching them !
So now imagine you have Jesus teaching these lost sinners who are desperate to hear His message of hope while you also have the Pharisees looking for any excuse to accuse Him of blasphemy so they can arrest Him. Jesus begins with the parable of the lost sheep. In Luke 15 3-7
So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
straight away Jesus then goes onto the parable of the lost coin in verses 8-10
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coinsand loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
So let’s just stop there and have a look. We have two groups listening you have the sinners and gentiles who have always been thought of as the outcasts not worthy of being chosen by God. And the Pharisees who were Gods chosen people, and they knew it they thought they were the righteous ones and were appalled that Jesus was even talking to gentiles. But in these two short parables Jesus is clearly saying that all of Heaven will rejoice if even just one sinner repents and turns to God. Can you imagine how angry the Pharisees got when Jesus said this!
Now the next parable is the one about the prodigal son or the Lost son. It’s a parable that most people know. It’s all about two brothers and the younger brother says to his dad to get his inheritance early, before his father passes away. He then goes out and lives the party life until eventually he has spent all the money and is starving and living with pigs on a farm, and decides to go home and beg his father to forgive him and take him on even just as a slave at the family home.
But when he gets home the father is delighted to see him again, dresses him in the finest robes and has a banquet welcoming him home. Now when the older brother hears about this he gets mad and upset just listen to what he says in verses 28-32
“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
I hope you can see what’s going on here. Who is the older brother that’s getting angry ?
It’s the Pharisees and the religious leaders who were standing right there as Jesus was talking!
So the younger brother was the sinners and gentiles who are now getting told that they will be made welcome by the father (God) if they come home or repent and turn to God.
Immediately after this parable Jesus then goes on to tell the parable of the shrewd manager in chapter 16 Now in the parable the manager is accused of wasting his masters money so was going to be fired. To save time if we just read from verses 10 onwards.
“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honours is detestable in the sight of God.
So here we have the Pharisees getting told by Jesus that they have done a pitiful job of looking after God Blessings like the manager in the parable.
WHO WERE THE PHARISEES
The Pharisees were the ruling elite of Israel, they were the priests and religious lawyers who kept all of the Jews in check by making sure that they were keeping all the Biblical laws.
This was why they were always at odds with Jesus. As they had corrupted Gods word to their own ends. Jesus Himself called them a “Den of Vipers destined to go to Hell” in Matthew. Not only had they crippled the nation with laws that were not Godly, but they were corrupt, evil money lovers.
As an example if you were a Jew living in Jesus times, if and when you had sinned you would have to select one of your best lambs then bring it to the capital city Jerusalem to the temple to offer it as a sacrifice for your sins.
Upon arriving at the temple the Pharisees would then inspect your lamb and find some imaginary flaw with it and then declare it not suitable to be used as a sacrifice in the temple and you would have to buy a lamb from them at a extortionate rate and then the Pharisees would keep all the money that they had conned out of the people.
This was one of the reasons why Jesus went to the temple and called it “a den of thieves”
Now obviously there is so much more to all of these amazing parables and that was just a quick recap but the important note is the theme that’s running through all of them and ends with the conclusion parable that is The Rich man and Lazarus.
Now looking again at the audience for this series of parables, the gentile who were the outcasts in each of these parables understood that Jesus was teaching that they could now be part of God s chosen people as they now had access to heaven through Jesus. The Pharisees the corrupt religious leaders who knew their bibles incredibly well, knew that Jesus was rebuking them as the poor stewards’ or managers of God’s blessings.
So now let’s look at the parable again now as a representation of the Pharisees and Gentiles .
RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to Hades. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus on his bosom.
“The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great gulf separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’
“Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
“But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
“But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
How do we know that the Rich man was the Pharisees ? Well let’s look at the clues.
” clothed in purple and fine linen ” This is our first clue. The colour purple in Biblical times was not a common colour as to make it was incredibly expensive, small sea snails had to be crushed and each one could just make a drip of purple dye. Lydia of Acts 16 was a merchant of purple cloth and as such had enough money to host the church within her own house which was large enough to host it.
So to the Jewish nation purple was always seen as a leader or royal colour and the high priest or head Pharisee would have had a purple robe. This also explains why in Mark 15 the Roman soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus before His crucifixion as they mocked Him for being the King of the Jews. In that case it wasn’t true purple but a old red roman cloak that had been bleached out by the sun so looked kind of purplish.
” and fine linen” This is the second clue as its the Jewish nation, as fine linen was to be used as a undergarment for the High Priest in the Old Testament as instructed in Leviticus 16.
Our third clue comes from verse 24 where the rich man in torment calls over to “Father Abraham” a phrase that would be used exclusively by the Jews. As he was the founding father of the Jewish nation.
Who is Abraham ?
Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of the entire Jewish nation, through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob we get the 12 tribes of Israel. He is honoured in the Jewish faith and called “Father Abraham” and given the title of patriarch of the Jewish nation.
Again in verse 25 we see that Abraham called the rich man “Son”so even he thought of this rich man as part of his extended family. Now we really have to know our bibles to understand this fifth clue as its about the twelve sons of Jacob who will make up the twelve tribes of Israel. To make it easy you have to understand that out of the twelve tribes, only one tribe, the Tribe of Judah survived into Jesus’ time and this is where we get the name Jew from. As it’s a shortened version of the name as it went from ” a Judean “ to simply being “a Jew”
“For I have five brothers” now as Jacob had his twelve sons to multiple women only Judah his son and now the only tribe left had five brothers same mum and dad whilst he also had six half brothers from his father side but all from different mothers.
“Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote” Now this is the clearest clue that this “rich man” is indeed a representation of the Jewish nation as “Moses and the prophets” was the Jewish name for the Scriptures in Jesus time as it was only the Old Testament at this point.
So now we have established that this “Rich Man”was “Judah” representing the Jewish nation let’s now have a look at “Lazarus “
So the clues as to why “Lazarus” is representing the gentile nations.The name Lazarus is the Romanised name Eliezer , now this was common to have a Romanised name examples like Saul and Paul, so Saul would be his Jewish name and Paul was his Romanised name.
By nowadays standard we have similar things like “Robert Burns” being his proper name but we all know him “Rabbi Burns”. Now the name Eliezer means ” God has helped ” so if we follow the idea that Lazarus is indeed the Gentile nations then of course we will need Gods help to become part of His chosen people.
“the dogs would come and lick his open sores” Dog was a common name for gentile or non Jew even Jesus called a gentile women a dog in Matthew 15. So in this parable the only companionship that poor Lazarus could find was from other gentiles or dogs. As a Jew would have nothing to do with a gentile (dog).
“Lazarus carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom“ So back to this verse again, So what does this mean. Well to be on someone’s bosom means to have the place of honour at a banquet or feast. In John 13 at the last supper it says “One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly, was reclining against him” In biblical times you would lie on the floor to have a feast and the position of honour was to lie with your head resting upon the hosts chest so then he and you could talk privately without any others hearing. So the famous picture by Leonardo da Vinci where they are all sitting at a table was totally wrong as they would have been all lying down.
But why was Lazarus allowed such a position of honour ? Well he must have been held in high standing by Abraham (the spiritual father of all the Jew) and we can find his connection to Abraham way back in Genesis 15
But Abram said, “I remain childless and the one who will inheritmy estate is Eliezer and he will be my heir.”
Eliezer as Abraham right hand man, by tradition if Abraham had no children Eliezerwho was a gentile from Damascus ( modern day Syria) would have inherited all his wealth and would also have inherited the blessing given to Abraham by God. Now as we know Abraham did have children which would eventually become the Judeans or Jews of Jesus day. So this shows why he is given the place of honour at Abrahams bosom.
So now we have established that these are now representing the Jewish nation and the gentile nations, let look at the parable and see what its now teaching.
“The rich man or Judah (representing the Jews)died and went to Hades”
“Hades” means “the place of the dead” or a more exact translation would be “the place of the unseen”
Now this shows that there would come a point where Judah or the Jews would become unseen by God. When they would no longer be the chosen people of God.
” There, in torment” So what is the torment ?
Well the Greek word that’s its translated from is “Basanos” Which means a touchstone.
In biblical times this black stone was used to test the purity of gold by rubbing it against the stone and depending on the colour of the mark it would leave behind you could tell if it was pure gold or not.
So we can now see that this “hell” as many translations call it was not a place of torture but more a place of suffering, for correction. As the whole Jewish nation was going to be cut off in this age ( they still have a part to play ) and be replaced with those who in faith would accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
“I am in anguish in these flames” Well the word “ anguish” used here is translated from the Greek word that means deep sorrow and is used in two other passages in the Bible In Luke 2 Its used to describe how Jesus parent felt when they lost him on the visit to the temple when he was only Twelve years old, and again in Acts 20 when Paul had to say good bye to the Ephesian church knowing he would never see them again.
So what about the flames ? Well Hebrews 12 describes God as the all consuming fire or you can say the flames of anguish are to purify the Jews to bring them to faith in Jesus. Like how you can purify precious metals by heating it up and then removing the impurities over and over until it’s pure.
“And besides, there is a great gulf” See the rich man or Judah the Jewish nation is now left to fend for themselves just like Lazarus the gentile nations had been previously. The rich man is now outside of Gods new covenant, because of his unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah. And the great gulf spoken of in verse 26is this very unbelief. Paul writes about this very event in Romans 11.
When the Jews entered the promised land of Israel they had to cross a great valley or “gulf ” called the Jordan valley and in the centre of this valley is a massive river called the Jordan river.
So how did the Jews crossed the Jordan river ?
They needed the help of God to cross it and it was recorded in Joshua. I recommend reading the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua just so you can realise how important an event this was to the Jewish nation, but to give you a clue.
When Moses parted the Red Sea to allow them to cross through it. That was given two verses where the crossing of the Jordan river gets two full chapters dedicated to it, So I hope you can see how important the crossing the Jordan Valley was to the Jews.
After wandering for forty years in the wilderness they saw this as their salvation as they now entered their own promised land. And this valley was the great “gulf”that now separated them from the gentile nations. In the same way that it was impossible for them cross this great “gulf” by themselves. In the same way it was impossible for the Rich man or Lazarus to cross this “gulf“ in the parable.
The only way to cross this “gulf” is through Jesus. How often have we seen the image of man and God separated by the “gulf” of SIN and only when the cross is used as a bridge can we cross over.
“they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” We can read in Matthew 23 how Jesus stood on the mount of olives weeping over His Holy City of Jerusalem knowing full well that in just a few days, Hisvery own people that He had chosen, protected, loved and cared for, for thousands of years would now reject Him and shout ” Crucify him, crucify him and let His blood be on us, and our children”
Jesus being Lord of all could see the future and the destruction of Jerusalem and of Gods own temple. In the year 70AD Jerusalem and the temple were overrun and destroyed by the Romans with the deaths of over 1’000’000 Jews in the process.
To this day there is still a “great gulf” separating the Jewish nation from Gods favour and they are still suffering through the anguish of purification to come back to Jesus.
Now if we look at the other parables that Jesus taught at this feast with this new information we can see the masterful way Jesus brought it to this amazing conclusion.
- The Lost Coin/ Sheep again Jesus was showing how much rejoicing there should be for the lost coin/sheep (gentiles) now being found as there was a way for them to get to Heaven now
- The Prodigal son, Now we can see the older brother was the Jewish nation who had stuck by God where the younger brother (the gentiles) had been out partying and having fun. But when they came back the father (God) welcomed them home and this just angered the elder brother (The Jews) who thought it wasn’t fair.
- The Bad manager, simply a story about how the manager (the Jews) hadn’t looked after their masters affairs properly and they should be fired for not doing a good job.
- Then finally the rich man and Lazarus to try to explain that the rich man (Jews) were losing their salvation in favour of Lazarus (gentiles) and it was time to embrace the change and be happy for salvation was now available to all who followed Jesus.
Amen